Highs and niggles from our 3 week Orlando, Anna Maria Island and Hilton Head Island holiday!

[smithlane]

We are now back a week from what was an EPIC 3 week holiday which included us getting married on Anna Maria Island so thought I’d put together a few thoughts and musings of our time in the US!

We were a close family group of 17 - myself, DH, DD, DS, both sets of parents and both sisters with their families.
The first week was in Orlando where I did 3 of the Disney parks and an airboat ride with my parents, sister and family whilst DH played golf with his parents and both my children (19&17) stayed in the villa working on their tans. It was hectic and I felt I didn’t see much of them at all but once we got to Anna Maria Island it was far more relaxed! The wedding was halfway through the second week which was lovely to have a few days before and after to really relax.
After two weeks everyone bar Jim and I flew home and we had a ‘honeymoon’ week up in Sawgrass, Hilton Head Island and St Augustine.

Niggles
I’ll start off with the niggles first as there aren’t many - truly no lows!

* Disney - now don’t get me wrong, I loved our time in the parks (see highs also!) We only did Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios but the crowds were so much heavier than I’ve ever seen before. Now honestly I was expecting it to be busier but as we only had one day in each park it was a real struggle to fit even half of the things we wanted to do in. I left each park with the feeling like I was ‘done’ with no real desire to return. That will probably change in the future but for the moment at least we won’t be back.

* No-see-um bites - not so many in our first week but holy moly they had a feast on me during our time on AMI! I’m kicking myself for not taking garlic and Vit B tablets in the weeks leading up to the holiday. I react badly to most bites so it was pretty miserable when I got a new one. I counted 58 on my body by the end 🥴

* Rubbish exchange rate - I have never known it so low! Really hoping it picks up soon as even though we won’t be back to Orlando for the foreseeable we will be holidaying in the US and with my new job as Cabin Crew I’ll be spending a lot of time over the pond so would really help with my shopping habits 😬

* Alamo - we ended up with 3 different cars from them over the course of the 3 weeks. We picked up an Infiniti QX80 from Tampa airport that was the best of a bad bunch but it drove fine and was big enough to fit everything in. We noticed there was an awful smell every time you turned the air con on but would disappear over time so not enough to complain about. After a few days however the seatbelt alarm would continuously ding as if someone wasn’t wearing a belt even if I was the only one in it! It was driving us insane as it wasn’t one of those alarms that silences after a few minutes but the final straw was the car alarm just randomly going off, clearly an electrical issue going on. The day we left Orlando for Anna Maria Island we drove to MCO to swap it out. Well it was chaos here with the few members of staff they actually had not seemingly knowing what they were doing. Finally hunted down a manager who was so rude but I stuck to my guns and we got a swap to a Ford Expedition. The very next morning we come out to a slow puncture! DH sent an email to Alamo who instead of just saying they’d send someone to fix it or give us some money back and we’d do it ourselves they said they’d send a tow truck to take it away and send another one. A bit of an overkill I thought! The third car was the worst of them all, the most beaten up Chevy Tahoe I’ve ever driven! It had nearly 80K on the clock, the carpets ripped and was a heap of junk. By now we just didn’t have the energy to do anything about it and it wasn’t worth stressing over. We have since complained to Alamo and have had a partial refund but not sure I’d hire with them again, it’s not like this years prices are cheap! I know the industry is in meltdown and they don’t have the stock but they shouldn’t be overselling their vehicles for extortionate prices and giving a sub standard product. Rant over 🙈

* Being the family tour guide - I don’t want this to come out as sounding like I’m whining as believe me I will be forever grateful that all our close family came out to celebrate our wedding with us and we truly had a fantastic time, BUT by the end of the 2 weeks I was exhausted at making sure everyone was ok and enjoying themselves. I was the person everyone went to with a question or need, big or small! Instead of Ask Jeeves it was Ask Alicia! Now I know I have totally made a rod for myself by being chief planner and organiser so I’ve only got myself to blame but if I come on here in a few years time saying we’re planning a big family holiday, can someone please remind me of this thread 😂

That’s it for niggles, nothing major at all that made the holiday disastrous!

[smithlane]

Highs
Now for the good part! I’ll break this down into the 3 separate weeks.

Week 1 - Orlando

* British Airways Club Lounge and flying Club - Wow, wow, wow! From the moment we checked in to the end of the flight we were treated exceptionally. The Club Lounge in Gatwick is spotless with fantastic food and drink options, we almost didn’t want to leave! The flight went smoothly and we had an amazing set of Cabin Crew looking after us, nothing was too much bother. I’m not sure I’ll be able to fly economy again!

* Disney - now regardless of what I said above, it really felt good to be back. The familiar sights, sounds and smells felt wonderful and I LOVED being able to show my Sister, BIL, niece and nephew the parks as they’ve never been to Florida before. My sister is a complete cynic so I was worried she wouldn’t ‘feel’ the magic but you know what? They all got sucked in hook, line and sinker so I know they’ll be back!

* Animal Kingdom - this park gets a special mention as I think it’s now my favourite even over MK! It could be it was the first park we did or that the crowds were definitely lower here or that MK’s crowds were insane but we had a fantastic day here. Flight of Passage still remains my favourite ever ride and I still come off feeling a bit emotional!

* Our villa - we shared the most fabulous 5 bed home in the Formosa Gardens estate with my in-laws. It was only 2 doors up from where we stayed in 2017 so we knew the location was perfect and in fact it was exactly the same layout so felt familiar. The pool area overlooking the lake will remain as one of my favourite places to be, especially first thing in the morning when it was so calm and peaceful

* Airboat ride - we had a great trip with Boggy Creek that was booked through Viator a few weeks prior. I quite liked that we weren’t set a particular time you just needed to turn up on the day and they’d get you on the next boat. Now this might not work in peak periods but for us we arrived at just gone 12 and were on at 12.30. This gave us time to look at the alligators they have in the pen and for my niece and nephew to pan for gold and gems. We only saw one alligator as it was so hot they were all submerged but it we still had a great 30 minutes and Connor our guide was a hoot!

* Shopping - now even with the shoddy exchange rate I still managed to bag some bargains. I love their seasonal decor so bought many Fall/Halloween pieces plus a few Christmas decs! The outlets we weren’t too successful in but did ok in Tommy Hilfiger and J Crew. Ralph Lauren is far cheaper back home in Bicester Village!

😂

* Celebration - we had another fantastic meal in the Town Tavern we just love the vibe of this town. I could totally see myself living here one day!

* Meeting up with Dibber Sparksy72 and her wonderful family - Michelle and I have been online friends for a while now so when we found out our holidays were going to overlap it was a must that we meet! We met for drinks at Jock Lindsay’s Hangar Bar in Disney Springs and had a wonderful evening chatting and drinking cocktails.

[smithlane]

Week 2 - Anna Maria Island

* Anna Maria Island itself - This still remains my favourite place in the world, I can’t quite describe the feeling I get when I’m here but it’s like a weight has been lifted, I can breathe again and I feel the most relaxed I’ve ever been. I’m not ashamed to say I shed a few tears of emotion when we crossed the bridge from the mainland - I was home.

* The Wedding - it honestly couldn’t have been more perfect. The weather was slightly cloudy and not as hot as the previous days which was so much better than the humidity we had been getting. We did get a strong sea breeze which was playing havoc with my hair but that was so much better than standing in the scorching heat not being able to see properly because of the sun! The ceremony was short but had such a personal touch, the whole family felt included. Bonnie our officiant was someone I instantly gelled with and it felt like I’d known her for years with Emma-Rose our photographer having a fantastic energy and producing some stunning photos. The venue was at the Sandbar restaurant and they were amazing from start to finish, the Beach View Deck was just to the side and the perfect place to have our dinner and reception. We felt like we had our own private area away from the main restaurant.

* Our house - We shared this with my Sister in law and family who we get on with like a house on fire. It was an amazing 5/6 bed house on Oak Avenue which backed onto the canal and was only 10 houses away from the beach, it couldn’t have been in a better location! Although it was slightly worn around the edges and needed some TLC we completely overlooked that to have this back yard. We hired kayaks and Paddleboards and were able to get straight out on the water in minutes.

* Hiring a boat - we did this back in 2018 and had a fab time so knew we wanted to do it again. We drove halfway down to Sarasota but ending up mooring up by a sandbar next to Jewfish Key. We saw dolphins too so that made the day complete!

* Sunrises and Sunsets - you can’t beat a sunrise view from either Anna Maria Island City Pier or Rod and Reel Pier, the latter of the two was where we spotted dolphins. The sun sets from the Gulf side of the island and basically anywhere along that stretch of beach you’ll have an amazing view. No two sunsets are the same and some of the best ones are after a storm!

* Restaurants - a big shout out to Ginny & Jane’s, Rod & Reel, Gulf Drive Cafe, The Ugly Grouper and Slims. We had fantastic meals in all of them!

* Wildlife spotting - apart from seeing dolphins on a few different occasions we were really fortunate to see manatees along a stretch of water on Palma Sola Blvd and countless water birds who call this paradise home. My favourites are the Egrets and Pelicans. This little fella swam next to my kayak for ages, not phased in the slightest by me!

We also had a Racoon living in one of the trees in the back yard, he would come down at night on the hunt for food

[smithlane]

Week 3 - Sawgrass, Hilton Head Island and St Augustine

* Golf - this one is obviously not for me but DH is a huge golfer and it’s been on his bucket list forever to play at both Sawgrass and HarbourTown. With the former he couldn’t play on the main Players course as a competition was going on but played the next one down which he said was amazing. I went shopping - obvs! When he played HarbourTown on Hilton Head Island I drove the buggy which was quite fun for the first half but soon became a snooze fest although I did spot an alligator!

* AirBnB in HHI - yet again we struck gold with our accommodation! It was a huge 2 bed condo in the Palmetto Dunes area of the island. We were halfway between the beach and Shelter Cove the marina so perfectly located. The reason we had such a big place was because we were meant to stay here in 2020 and then 2021 with the kids but we know what happened there so the wonderful owner Chad rolled it over another year for us. I actually wish the kids were with us for this final week as there was so much to do I know they’d love it there, another year!

* Restaurants - we had great meals at Hilton Head Diner, Jim N Nicks BBQ, Skull Creek Boathouse and Top Dawg Tavern. The sunset especially at Skull Creek is one I’ll never forget!

* Hiring bikes - the whole island is incredibly bike friendly so it was a no brainer to hire them. A few times I went out on my own and felt perfectly safe.

* Wildlife spotting - apart from the alligator on the golf course I saw countless different birds in the marsh areas of the island. As you’ve probably gathered by now I love bird spotting! We also had the cutest resident turtles in the pond by our condo.

* Savannah - this was a whistle stop couple of hours in this city and I’ve vowed to go back. It was pouring with rain but even with the miserable weather you could see how lovely it is. We went to find Forrest Gumps bench only to be told they only put it there for the film! Oh well we found Chippewa Square where the filming happened anyway.

* St Augustine - again we didn’t have anywhere near as long as I’d have liked here but we had a fabulous last night in the Renaissance Inn. It was very centrally located and you can walk to pretty much anywhere in the city from there. We had the most amazing last dinner at a steak restaurant called Michaels, hands down the best steak I’ve ever eaten! It was the perfect end to what was an unforgettable holiday

I think that’s about it! I’ll be doing a full report as soon as I can but I’m meant to be starting my training for my new job as British Airways Cabin Crew next week so not sure how quickly I’ll get it done but I’ll try my very best though.
If anyone has any questions about any part of the holiday please just fire away!

[TheHughesCrew]

What a wonderful collection of memories! Reading about AMI had me shed a wee tear. Your wedding looked amazing and the pictures are beautiful. Thanks for sharing 💖

[Rescuer]

Wow. What an amazing trip. Lovely to read that there were only Muggles and no real lows. I totally get what you mean about being the tour guide, we are a tiny family and the twice my MIL has come with us I’ve felt like that, to be fair probably me trying too hard to make everything perfect than any expectations on her part. 😂 even on our just the 3 of us trip this time I threw a strop and refused to plan Busch Gardens for them. 😂

Your wedding photos are stunning. AMI looks idyllic and that house ❤️.

Makes me think we should really do more than just the theme parks when we go.

[3rd Time Lucky]

I was wondering how your trip went, thankyou so much for posting. Your photos are beautiful, many congratulations to you both, and good luck with your new job, x

[jimmymc]

Congratulations on your wedding! It looked beautiful! All the places you visited look amazing! Where was your favourite (apart from AM island)? We have already been here!

Maureen

[Gryff]

Looks as though everything was amazing and what a beautiful picture of the 4 of you
Hn

[tigger48]

Congratulations! Thank you for posting such lovely photos, the sunsets OMG! We’ve not made it to AMI (yet) but I think we need to add that to our (long) list of need to do.
Good luck also in your new job with BA.